Center for Sustainable Design
Departments of Landscape Architecture and Biological Engineering
About CSD
Who are we?
We are a group of students and faculty from Mississippi State University who believe that, as a species, we must learn to "live within our means" on earth. Inordinate use of non-renewable resources and irresponsible disposal of wastes are simply not fair to the generations that will follow us. Our technological development coupled with our growing population has given us the capacity to inflict great damage on the natural systems which sustain us. That same technological development, coupled with creativity and imagination, has given us the capacity to understand and adapt natural systems to meet many of our needs. As a species, we will continue to grow in numbers for the foreseeable future. Consequently "development" (i.e., the creation of systems and structures to meet our needs) will continue. Our job is to develop, systematize, and promulgate the methods that will allow the inevitable to coexist with the essential.
How did the CSD come about?
The Center for Sustainable Design (CSD) was created by Pete Melby, Professor of Landscape Architecture, and Tom Cathcart, Professor of Biological Engineering. Pete and Tom started having their students work together on an assortment of environmental class projects back in 1990. Initially, the impetus was to put the students into a position where they would have to work effectively with individuals having different backgrounds than their own in order to better prepare them for the "real world". As it turned out, Pete and Tom found that biological engineers and landscape architects work spectacularly well together. Further, they discovered that the natural interface between the 2 disciplines is the "environment". Landscape architects (LA's) work with the land, both its form and function. Biological engineers (BE's) address engineering problems associated with biological systems. It was, however, a fortunate accident that Pete and Tom shared an interest in the use of natural (i.e., biological) approaches to solve man-made problems. Due to this common interest, almost all of the class projects required the use of sustainable systems in their solutions.
In the years 1990 - 1995, class projects shared by LA's and BE's included plans for a "pocket" (i.e., small) salt marsh to replace a storm drain in Biloxi, MS; plans for an on-site regenerative sewage treatment system for a small college in Cohoma, MS; plans for an 11 acre educational, aesthetically attractive, wetland system in Verona, MS; plans for an energy friendly classroom building at Mississippi State University; followed by plans for a "natural resources" campus for MSU the following year. It should be emphasized, that these were primarily "classroom exercises".
In 1995, an important change took place: the Biloxi Area Chamber of Commerce contacted Pete and Tom to see whether they would like a small grant to try out the pocket salt marsh idea. That spring, they brought about 25 LA and BE students to the coast, where, with a work crew from the city, about 15 local high school students, personnel from the Gulf Coast Research Lab, and professionals from a local engineering firm, they broke the storm pipe and planted the marsh in 2 busy days. Since that time, they have received funding to pursue a number of other projects. Students have continued to participate in all of these projects. The difference is that the projects are all funded, all have value to outside agencies and groups, and have incorporated university professionals from disciplines outside of LA and BE.
After the first 3 funded projects, it dawned on Pete and Tom that all of their projects shared the common theme of "sustainable" design, however different the subject matter. Working with Jonathan Pote of the Water Resources Research Institute (a long-time supporter of their efforts), they officially created an administrative entity called the "Center for Sustainable Design" within the WRRI. By creating the center, they were merely "giving a name to" what they had already become: an umbrella group for like minded professionals who wished to work in the sustainable design area.
Presentations by CSD Personell:
· Interview with Tom Cathcart recorded June, 1998, at the MSU radio station, WMSV (Real Audio, ~ 1 MB).
· Getting the Word Out: BMP's and Environmental Quality - Soil and Water Conservation Society Meeting, 12/5/00
· Impermeable Surfaces and Stream Corridors - NRCS Developers Workshop November, 2002.
· Creating a Sustainable Landscape Architecture Facility - October 7, 2003
· Water Related Regenerative Technologies at a Sustainable University Facility - Sustainable Landscapes Conference,
Logan Utah. April 5, 2004
